Yahoo! JAPAN optimizes workforce, analyzing big data in minutes with Tableau


Previously, when Yahoo! JAPAN’s employees wanted to analyze data, they had to request a report from the Data Service Division, who would use SQL queries to pull data out of the company’s Hadoop environment. This process led to turnaround times of up to half a day and long reporting queues.

Today, users can pull data from Hadoop into Tableau themselves within minutes—increasing visibility into the data and reducing cost.

“Business users can now handle the data directly,” shared Yukihiro Terada, Manager, Data Service Division, Data & Science Solutions Group. “Since business users can now use Tableau, it is easy for them to retrieve the data they want by themselves, without communication costs.”

With Tableau, employees are empowered to look beyond numerical values to see the impact those values have on the business. They can now concentrate resources on finding “the root” cause of issues—and using those insights for more strategic decision making.

“In the past I was retrieving data and checking only numerical values, explains Kazuya Hirabayashi, Data Service Division, Data & Science Solutions Group. “Now I can deeply understand what meaning and values are included in the data. I think that aspect has had a big impact on me.”

“I can now concentrate my resources on quickly getting new insights based on the data, and I have the impression that there has been a tremendous improvement on that point.”

Employees are pleased by the company’s new self-service methodology. The Data Service Division has more time to focus on strategic projects, while business users are closer to the data, leading to more creative problem solving.